HEALTH & SAFETY CODE
CHAPTER 88. REPORTS OF CHILDHOOD LEAD POISONING
§ 88.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Child care" includes a school, preschool,
kindergarten, nursery school, or other similar activity that
provides care or instruction for young children.
(2) "Child care facility" means a public place or a
residence in which a person furnishes child care.
(3) "Health authority" means a physician appointed as
such under Chapter 121.
(4) "Health professional" means an individual whose:
(A) vocation or profession is directly or
indirectly related to the maintenance of health in another
individual; and
(B) duties require a specified amount of formal
education and may require a special examination, certificate or
license, or membership in a regional or national association.
(5) "Lead" includes metallic lead and materials
containing metallic lead with a potential for release in sufficient
concentrations to pose a threat to public health.
(6) "Blood lead levels of concern" means the presence
of blood lead concentrations suspected to be associated with mental
and physical disorders due to absorption, ingestion, or inhalation
of lead as specified in the most recent criteria issued by the
United States Department of Health and Human Services, United
States Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention of the United States Public Health Service.
(7) "Lead poisoning" means the presence of a confirmed
venous blood level established by board rule in the range specified
for medical evaluation and possible pharmacologic treatment in the
most recent criteria issued by the United States Department of
Health and Human Services, United States Public Health Service,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States
Public Health Service.
(8) "Local health department" means a department
created under Chapter 121.
(9) "Physician" means a person licensed to practice
medicine by the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners.
(10) "Public health district" means a district created
under Chapter 121.
(11) "Regional director" means a physician appointed
by the board as the chief administrative officer of a public health
region under Chapter 121.
(12) "Board" means the Texas Board of Health.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 965, § 52, eff. Jan. 1, 1996.
Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 740, § 3, eff. Sept. 1,
2003.
§ 88.002. CONFIDENTIALITY. (a) Except as specifically
authorized by this chapter, reports, records, and information
furnished to a health authority, a regional director, or the
department that relate to cases or suspected cases of children with
blood lead levels of concern or lead poisoning are confidential and
may be used only for the purposes of this chapter.
(b) Reports, records, and information relating to cases or
suspected cases of childhood lead poisoning and children with blood
lead levels of concern are not public information under the open
records law, Chapter 552, Government Code, and may not be released
or made public on subpoena or otherwise except as provided by this
chapter.
(c) Medical, epidemiologic, or toxicologic information may
be released:
(1) for statistical purposes if released in a manner
that prevents the identification of any person;
(2) with the consent of each person identified in the
information;
(3) to medical personnel, appropriate state agencies,
health authorities, regional directors, and public officers of
counties and municipalities as necessary to comply with this
chapter and related rules;
(4) to appropriate federal agencies, such as the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States
Public Health Service, except that the information must be limited
to the information requested by the agency; or
(5) to medical personnel to the extent necessary in a
medical emergency to protect the health or life of the child
identified in the information.
(d) The commissioner, a regional director or other
department employee, a health authority or employee of a public
health district, a health authority or employee of a county or
municipal health department, or a public official of a county or
municipality may not be examined in a civil, criminal, special, or
other proceeding as to the existence or contents of pertinent
records of or reports or information about a child identified,
examined, or treated for lead poisoning or about a child possessing
blood lead levels of concern by the department, a public health
district, a local health department, or a health authority without
the consent of the child's parents, managing conservator, guardian,
or other person authorized by law to give consent.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 965, § 52, eff. Jan. 1, 1996.
§ 88.0025. CHILDHOOD LEAD POISONING PREVENTION. The
board may implement policies and procedures to promote the
elimination of childhood lead poisoning within the state. The
board may adopt measures to:
(1) significantly reduce the incidence of childhood
lead poisoning throughout the state;
(2) improve public awareness of lead safety issues and
educate both property owners and tenants about practices that can
reduce the incidence of lead poisoning; and
(3) encourage the testing of children likely to suffer
the consequences of lead poisoning so that prompt diagnosis and
treatment and the prevention of harm are possible.
Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 740, § 4, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
§ 88.003. REPORTABLE HEALTH CONDITION. (a) Childhood
blood lead levels of concern are reportable.
(b) The board by rule may designate:
(1) blood lead concentrations in children that must be
reported; and
(2) the ages of children for whom the reporting
requirements apply.
(c) The board may adopt rules that establish a registry of
children with blood lead levels of concern and lead poisoning.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 965, § 52, eff. Jan. 1, 1996.
§ 88.004. PERSONS REQUIRED TO REPORT. (a) A person
required to report childhood blood lead levels of concern shall
report to the department in the manner specified by board rule.
Except as provided by this section, a person required by this
section to report must make the report immediately after the person
gains knowledge of the case or suspected case of a child with a
blood lead level of concern.
(b) A physician shall report a case or suspected case of
childhood lead poisoning or of a child with a blood lead level of
concern after the physician's first examination of a child for whom
reporting is required by board rule.
(c) A person in charge of an independent clinical
laboratory, a hospital or clinic laboratory, or other facility in
which a laboratory examination of a specimen derived from the human
body yields evidence of a child with a blood lead level of concern
shall report the findings to the department as required by board
rule.
(d) If a report is not made as required by Subsection (b) or
(c), the following persons shall report a case or suspected case of
a child with lead poisoning or a blood lead level of concern and all
information known concerning the child:
(1) the administrator of a hospital licensed under
Chapter 241;
(2) a professional registered nurse;
(3) an administrator or director of a public or
private child care facility;
(4) an administrator of a home health agency;
(5) an administrator or health official of a public or
private institution of higher education;
(6) a superintendent, manager, or health official of a
public or private camp, home, or institution;
(7) a parent, managing conservator, or guardian; and
(8) a health professional.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 965, § 52, eff. Jan. 1, 1996.
§ 88.005. REPORTING PROCEDURES. (a) The board shall
prescribe the form and method of reporting under this chapter,
including a report in writing, by telephone, or by electronic data
transmission.
(b) Board rules may require the reports to contain any
information relating to a case that is necessary for the purposes of
this chapter, including:
(1) the child's name, address, age, sex, and race;
(2) the child's blood lead concentration;
(3) the procedure used to determine the child's blood
lead concentration; and
(4) the name of the attending physician.
(c) The commissioner may authorize an alternate routing of
information in particular cases if the commissioner determines that
the customary reporting procedure would cause the information to be
unduly delayed.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 965, § 52, eff. Jan. 1, 1996.
§ 88.006. REPORTS OF HOSPITALIZATION; DEATH. (a) A
physician who attends a child during the child's hospitalization
shall immediately notify the department if the physician knows or
suspects that the child has lead poisoning or a blood lead level of
concern and the physician believes the lead poisoning or blood lead
level of concern resulted from the child's exposure to a dangerous
level of lead that may be a threat to the public health.
(b) A physician who attends a child during the child's last
illness shall immediately notify the department if the physician:
(1) knows or suspects that the child died of lead
poisoning; and
(2) believes the lead poisoning resulted from the
child's exposure to a dangerous level of lead that may be a threat
to the public health.
(c) An attending physician, health authority, or regional
director, with the consent of the child's survivors, may request an
autopsy if the physician, health authority, or regional director
needs further information concerning the cause of death in order to
protect the public health. The health authority or regional
director may order the autopsy to determine the cause of death if
the child's survivors do not consent to the autopsy. The autopsy
results shall be reported to the department.
(d) A justice of the peace acting as coroner or a medical
examiner in the course of an inquest under Chapter 49, Code of
Criminal Procedure, who finds that a child's cause of death was lead
poisoning that resulted from exposure to a dangerous level of lead
that the justice of the peace or medical examiner believes may be a
threat to the public health shall immediately notify the health
authority or the regional director in the jurisdiction in which the
finding is made.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 965, § 52, eff. Jan. 1, 1996.
